
Copernical Team
North Korea accuses US of 'double standards' over SLBM test

DARPA moving SSITH safeguards closer to practical use

AMOS' compact hyperspectral instrument "ELOIS" to onboard a microsatellite soon

US and UK research labs collaborate on autonomy and artificial intelligence

US conducts 'successful' test of hypersonic missile technology

Earth from Space: Perth, Australia

Perth, Western Australia’s capital and largest city, is featured in this true-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.
Mini Earth-observer Proba-1's 20 years in orbit

Cyprus aims for Mars with X-Ray rock dating instrument

Tiny Cyprus aims to join the global space exploration drive by developing a compact, X-Ray instrument capable of dating Martian soil and rock samples relatively accurately to potentially reveal more about the Red Planet's geological history and offer a glimpse of Earth's own future.
George Danos, President of the Cyprus Space Exploration Organization, told reporters on Thursday that the 1.5 million euro ($1.75 million) European Union funded project is a first for Cyprus and aims to be completed over the next 18 months.
Danos said the CSEO will look for partners including NASA and the European Space Agency that would take the instrument aboard a Mars-bound spacecraft for more accurate, on-the-ground soil and rock dating on the Martian surface.
A group of prominent scientists have joined the project. They include Marcello Coradini, former head of the European Space Agency's Solar System Exploration division, Enrico Flamini, ex-chief scientist at Italy's Space Agency ASI, and planetary geologist Lucia Marinangeli.
The scientists chose Cyprus to develop the instrument because it can be tested on pockets of the east Mediterranean island nation's volcanic rock and soil that are similar to those found on Mars.
Mining the moon's water will require a massive infrastructure investment, but should we?

We live in a world in which momentous decisions are made by people often without forethought. But some things are predictable, including that if you continually consume a finite resource without recycling, it will eventually run out.
Yet, as we set our sights on embarking back to the moon, we will be bringing with us all our bad habits, including our urge for unrestrained consumption.
Since the 1994 discovery of water ice on the moon by the Clementine spacecraft, excitement has reigned at the prospect of a return to the moon. This followed two decades of the doldrums after the end of Apollo, a malaise that was symptomatic of an underlying lack of incentive to return.
That water changed everything. The water ice deposits are located at the poles of the moon hidden in the depths of craters that are forever devoid of sunlight.
ESA moves forward with Destination Earth

Earth observation provides a wealth of information to benefit our daily lives. As the demand for satellite data grows to address the challenges of climate change and a growing population, ESA, under the leadership of the European Commission, along with its key European partners, are developing high precision digital models of Earth to monitor and simulate both natural and human activity, to enable more sustainable development and support European environmental policies.
Today, at the ESA Council, Member States approved a ‘Contribution Agreement', which paves the way for cooperation with the European Commission on the Destination Earth initiative, in the context of the Digital